The Acrostics (Auburn, AL)

The Acrostics — Going Nowhere

A’cros’tic – (noun) a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.

You meet a lot of forgettable people in life, and but JR Collins is not one of them. He is a true character in every sense of the word.

J.R. is the leader and creator of The Acrostics and is quite infamous in some circles. Some of these circles date back to the legendary house party scene in Auburn, Alabama in the late 90’s and 00’s. While some of these other circles are spread from Los Angeles to Stockholm. As a member of two of the of the finest punk bands to ever come out of the Southeast – The Quadrajets, The Immortal Lee County Killers, J.R. helped pave the way for bands like The Dexateens, Pine Hill Haints, and The Drive By Truckers. While touring extensively and playing shows across the globe (24 countries on 4 different continents) with bands such as The White Stripes. Mudhoney, Man or Astroman?, and more.

After everything went to hell, as things mostly do with great punk bands, J.R. somehow ended up in the touring band of the mighty Jose Gonzalez for a time playing various percussions and contributing on backup vocals.

Most recently, at the urging of Southern Indie record label This Is American Music, J.R. started writing songs and just simply “creating something”. What he created was a lush home recording through an IPod of 9 songs written in Acrostic style. Yes, an iPod.
“Nightlife”, an urgent collection of thoughts, experiences, and storytelling that had to be put into song with has subtle nods to T. Rex, Nirvana’s “Bleach” and even Winger.

You can really sense that J.R., like some of us, is feeling the pull of middle age and he realizes that it is now or never, not “Now and Then” when he’s playing his songs (or just discussing them amongst the collection of freaks and weirdos that inhabit East Central Alabama). A sense of urgency can be a beautiful thing, and we feel “Nightlife” captures that immediacy in the best way possible. We feel honored to have been part of this ride even if we are “Going Nowhere”.

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